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Religion News Report - March 19, 2001 (Vol. 5, Issue 337)
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=== Aum Shinrikyo
1. Aum Doomsday Cult Shadows Japan
2. Key Members of the Aum Cult

=== Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God
3. Uganda Cult Mass Murder Anniversary
4. Up in smoke or into thin air? Uganda's killer cult leaders a year on

=== Ho-no-hana Sanpogyo
5. Taxman sinks boot into foot cult
6. Bureaus put foot down over Honohana taxes
7. Foot cult leader failed to declare 750 million yen in income

=== Falun Gong
8. Girl Set Ablaze in Tiananmen Dies
9. Exhibition Targeting Falun Gong Begins in Hong Kong
10. Falun Gong puts spotlight on HK civil servants
11. Analysis: US, China still clash on Falun Gong

=== Scientology
12. Threat of Scientologists' Legal Wrath Prompts Slashdot to Censor a Posting
13. Scientologists Force Comment Off Slashdot
14. Slashdot buckles to Scientology loonies
15. Xenu Do, But Not on Slashdot
16. Holy? Or wholly without grounds

=== Buddhism
17. 'Buddha's hair' found in China

=== Islam
18. 400 Afghan clerics decided to destroy statues: Minister
19. Taliban Ways Under Question

=== Catholicism
20. Italy threatens to silence Vatican [Radio]
21. Few confessions

=== Mormonism
22. SLOC and the LDS Church downplay the church's involvement in the Olympics
23. From SLOC Leadership to Liquor, Church Has Long Had a Powerful Olympic Voice
24. Special Treatment for the Church?
25. Non-LDS Religious Leaders Cite Minimal Input
26. Courting Controversy
27. Sex change worshipper sues the Mormons

=== Hate Groups
28. Bertollini sues Coeur d'Alene newspaper
29. Parade foes to put best foot forward
30. Report Links Putin to Anti-Semitism
31. Estee Lauder's latest tangle
32. What's in a Name?

=== False Memory Syndrome
33. Jury awards family millions

=== Faith Healing
34. Senate Panel Backs Faith-Healing Ban When Kids At Risk
35. Mandatory medical aid for sick kids gets committee OK

=== Other News
36. Atheist leader's remains found on Texas ranch
37. China Extends Cult Crackdown to Protestants, Says Rights Group
38. Sect Not Allowed to Build Cult Hall [Universal Church of the Kingdom of God]
39. Man Shot Dead As Bulletproof Magic Fails
40. Moscow police make arrest in multiple murder
41. Poles rethink anti-sect moves after minority church complaints
42. Appeals court says Ohio motto is acceptable

=== Faith-Based & Community Initiatives
43. Conservatives call for ouster of director of faith-based charities


=== Hate Groups

28. Bertollini sues Coeur d'Alene newspaper
The Spokesman-Review, Mar. 17, 2001
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Vincent Bertollini has filed a libel lawsuit against the Coeur d'Alene Press, disputing language in an article that described him as a neo-Nazi and white supremacist.

Bertollini, who is a co-founder of The 11th Hour Remnant Messenger ministry in Sandpoint, said the descriptions are ''lies and patently false.''

The article Bertollini finds fault with was an Associated Press article published by the Press on Feb. 23 about his lawsuit against a Coeur d'Alene area motel. He sued the motel for refusing to allow him to hold a meeting in its conference room.

Bertollini is demanding a retraction, an apology and $37 million in punitive damages.

Bertollini is well-known in the area for his support of Aryan Nations leader Richard Butler, and for widely distributing literature that attacks Jews and human rights leaders.
[...entire item...]


29. Parade foes to put best foot forward
The Spokesman-Review, Mar. 17, 2001
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
Sandpoint isn't going to let a little Aryan parade on its main streets get it down.

City leaders are instead planning a celebration.

That celebration will be well away from downtown, however, where Aryan Nations followers are planning to march on April 21.

While it's still uncertain whether the Aryans will actually hold their parade, the celebration will go forth, regardless.
(...)

Plans aren't finalized by any means, but organizers envision a ''4th of July'' style celebration at the Bonner County Fairgrounds, with music, food and very few speeches.
(...)

In addition, most downtown businesses are planning to close their doors, and cover their signs and windows with black plastic for the duration of the parade.

The ''ghost town'' response is designed to show the community's disdain for the parade to the national media, which is expected to attend the event. Keyes hopes the media also will be drawn to the fairgrounds to learn what Sandpoint's really about, he said.

A downtown businessman also is trying to get approval to hang a banner across First Avenue, expressing the city's support for racial diversity.

Meanwhile, the City Council will soon vote on a resolution proclaiming support for human rights that's nearly identical to one recently passed by the Bonner County Commission.

City officials have yet to issue a permit for the parade. They're waiting to see whether the Aryans get approval from the Idaho Transportation Department.

State approval is necessary because the parade route uses part of First Avenue, which is a state highway.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


30. Report Links Putin to Anti-Semitism
AP, Mar. 16, 2001
http://www.times.spb.ru/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
WASHINGTON - The growing power of security services under President Vladimir Putin and his authoritarian instincts'' are contributing to anti-Semitism in Russia, the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews said Thursday.

Putin is showing an increasing lack of consideration for democratic values and Western opinion and is gaining popularity by what is seen as a crackdown on widely hated, mostly Jewish tycoons, the 31-year-old Jewish and human rights advocacy group said in a 180-page report.

At the same time, the stability Putin has brought to Russia, combined with his public vows to fight anti-Semitism, led to a noticeable decrease in violent anti-Semitic incidents last year, the report said.

In some regions, local and federal authorities have launched crackdowns against hate groups, but in others anti-Semitism is entrenched, the report said.

''Putin's heavy reliance on the FSB [formerly KGB] in his appointments, and his apparent lack of respect for democracy and a free press, may create new problems for Russia's Jews, who will never be safe until a democratic civil society develops,'' the report said.
(...)

Anti-Semitism in Russia often accompanies anti-Western, and specifically anti-American, sentiments, the report said. Regrettably, it said, the Russian government has concentrated on suppressing the media, religious minorities, especially Christians, human rights groups and environmentalists, ''all the while promoting a return to the dangerous secrecy paranoia of the Soviet past.''

Yosef Abramowitz, president of the Union of Councils, and Naftalin submitted the report to Secretary of State Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, President Bush's national security adviser. They said they hoped the document would help the Bush administration integrate human rights and religious freedom considerations into U.S. decision-making.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


31. Estee Lauder's latest tangle
MSNBC, Mar. 13, 2001
http://www.msnbc.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
March 13 - Beauty company Estee Lauder could be facing another ugly controversy. The cosmetics giant recently angered actors when Liz Hurley crossed Screen Actors Guild picket lines to do commercials. Now it seems the company was unwittingly using child labor. What's more, the alleged young workers were apparently part of a group that has been accused of being an anti-Semitic cult.

Estee Lauder had been using labor from a personal-care products company called Common Sense to work on products from its Origins line. Common Sense is run by a controversial organization called Twelve Tribes. The group, which has 20 communities around the U.S. as well as branches around the world, has been called a cult and has been accused of dispensing racist and anti-Semitic literature, according to various published sources. Any relationship between Twelve Tribes and Estee Lauder is particularly ironic because the Lauder family is a powerful, high-profile supporter of Jewish causes.

A spokesman for Twelve Tribes confirmed that it had been working for Estee Lauder but declined to discuss details or why the relationship was terminated.

He vehemently denies charges that the group is anti-Semitic or racist.
''We've been accused of many things by people who are mad at us'' for various reasons, he says, pointing out that he, himself, is Jewish. He says that published reports calling the group anti-Semitic or racist are from the groups' foes, who ''promulgate lies.''
(...)

''I'm shocked that the Estee Lauder corporation did not do a thorough investigation before becoming involved with the Common Sense organization, which is simply a business front for the Twelve Tribes group,'' says Rick Ross, an expert in cults and controversial religions. Some of the charges leveled against Twelve Tribes are outlined in articles posted on Ross' Web site at www.rickross.com/groups/tribes.html
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]


32. What's in a Name?
Reuters, Mar. 16, 2001
http://news.excite.com/
[Story no longer online? Read this]
VIENNA (Reuters) - Austrian far-rightist Joerg Haider, best known abroad for controversial remarks about Austria's Nazi past, has copyrighted his name to stop what he calls exploitation of his fame, state television said on Friday.

Haider said he was prompted into the move because no fewer than 10 parties in neighboring Italy were using his name in campaigning for parliamentary elections, ORF said in its online news.
[...more...]   [Need the full story? Read this]

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